[Dbodily]

Randy, I really enjoy reading your posts in the forum. I have been messing around trying to teach myself body work for a long time. Generally I can get my panels straight but I really have to work at it when I have welded in patch panels. After reading your posts I realize i have been working the weld incorrectly in the past. I work away from home and I do not get to practice that much. My work is also normally in remote locations with no access to any schools that teach metal working. After all that here is my question:
I have Tig, Mig, and two types of Acetylene welding equipment.
One of the gas torches is a victor Journeyman and the other is a Henrob 2000 torch. If it were you which application would you use. I bought the Henrob at the suggestion of a metal worker who does pretty nice work but I still have a lot of trouble with warpping. thanks in advance David Bodily

[unstable]

I know this was for Randy and I'm sure he'll elaborate once he has time. The master metal shaper he learned from uses Tig exclusively for welding panels.

He bevels the edges of the two pieces to be joined, clamps them together and begins welding. He does a little at a time, stops, planishes and continues.

"Master Wray" also demonstated the use of Oxy Acetylene for me...let me give it a shot. Wray had said that he hasn't used Oxy/Acet for welding panels for 10 years....so one might assume, knowing Wray has been in the parts fabricating business for 17(?) years, that he spent the first 7 using Oxy/Acet.

I could be mistaken, but I believe Randy uses MIG...or HAD been using MIG for most of his repairs and has achieved excellent results.

Randy always stresses that it does not matter which process you use, you must be proficient with the process and proficient in finishing the metal after the welding.

I have seen OUTSTANDING results with 3 different processes...Gas, Tig and Mig.

Now in my opinion, it's really between the Tig and Oxy/Acet. That's just my opinion though. Seems to me that Oxy/Acet looks VERY similar to TIG when done right...mig does not. BUT, in the end, Randy could use a MIG and you'd never know if it was Tig/Mig or Oxy Acet.

To bring this to a close really quick. Warping is natural, it's going to happen whenever you heat the metal up. The metal is shrinking in the HAZ. It's a matter of stretching the metal back out in those places to bring the panel back to the original shape.

HTH.

[Dbodily]

Thanks unstable,
I think my biggest problem is and has been the planishing of the HAZ. Up until I joined this forum I was trying to work the metal outside the HAZ. I have to admit that my welding has gotten a little rusty also. However retirement is on the horizon and I can soon get back to my hobby. My company has had me assigned to a project 3000 mi from home. I only get home 6 days per month and then it's honey-do's. a lot of the time. But 14 months and I am home for good. Thanks again. David Bodily

[Randy Ferguson]

Hi David,

unstable has summed it up pretty well. Any process you use is fine, just so you're comfortable with what you're working with.
Tig is the prefered method, but O/A works well too. The process is very similar, and no matter what gas torch you use, with a little practice, you will become proficient. The Henrob torch seems to be a nice unit. I have used Mig for many years and have gotten by just fine, but I do prefer Tig.
For the record, Wray used Mig early on in his career almost exclusively, as I recall, unstable.

Randy Ferguson

[Dbodily]

Thanks Randy
David Bodily

[unstable]

Originally posted by Randy Ferguson

For the record, Wray used Mig early on in his career almost exclusively, as I recall, unstable.

Randy Ferguson

Wow...I had no idea. I did assume though. When he fired up the gas torches, he said "that was fun, I haven't done any gas welding for 10 years". By the appearance of the welds, it looked like he could/would have been using Oxy/Acet before mig.

btw...I finally made my first slapper. It's definitely a fisher-price-jobby, but it's mine and hopefully it will be useful. It's a little heavier than I would have liked. I got some thick truck leafs. I was thinking that I might be able to get the machine shop at my work to mill a little off of the bottom to lighten it up some.

The handle would have turned out alot better if I would have practiced cutting a little scrap before I tried cutting the slapper handle out ...I plan to take a wooden handle off of something, split it in half and put one piece on either side of the slapper handle and wrap it with leather lace or something...that will give a nice round and padded handle.